WHISKY: A WEAPON IN THE FIGHT FOR POSITIVE EXPORTS

Scotland's most famous export joined the fight for trade justice as debt-cancellation charity Jubilee Scotland hosted a 'positive exports' whisky tasting on October 12^th 2012. The tasting, led by Master of Malt and Whisky Man of the Year 2011 John Lamond, highlighted Jubilee Scotland's 'Break the Chains' campaign, which calls on Scotland to create an ethical export credits agency.

Launched earlier in 2012, the ‘Break the Chains’ campaign has spread across Scotland gaining momentum in the form of action postcards aimed at John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth.

Scottish businesses currently have no option but to access export credits via UK Export Finance (UKEF), a semi-autonomous government department which has long been targeted by justice campaigners for its connection with human rights abuses including child labour and arms sales to dictators. Supporting exports, predominantly in the arms and fossil fuel industries, is the main way that the UK government accumulates developing country debt; over 90% of all the debts owed to the UK through UKEF are for failed projects overseas.

Held in Leith – the historic home of Edinburgh’s trade - Jubilee Scotland used the evening to highlight how Scotland could create its own export credit agency which would distance itself from the shady practices of UKEF and would instead only support projects with high standards of sustainable development.

The whisky tasting, falling in the centenary year of the Scotch Whisky Association, saw politicians, campaigners and local community leaders, including Mark Lazarowicz MP for Edinburgh North and Leith and Councillors Gordon Munro and Nick Gardner, come together to celebrate the call for Scotland to be the home of positive exports. 

Alys Mumford, Campaign Director of Jubilee Scotland said, 'This evening we celebrated a rich and unique industry of which we can all be proud but also raised important questions about the future of Scottish exports. It was an opportunity for people to engage in debates about what Scotland can do to to promote ethical export credit and has been a positive step forward in this campaign'.